After-Hours Photographer-Led Visit to "Takin' it to the Streets"

Event Highlights:

• Explore the limited-run photo exhibition, Takin' It to the Streets, with more than 100 never-before-seen photographs of 1980s New York captured by Alan "Battman" Batt
• Admire the unique setting of the Prince George Ballroom, a former Gilded Age hotel opened in 1904
• Hear insights and behind-the-lens stories from the photographer himself
• Purchase a copy of Batt's new photo book and have it signed

About this Event:

Takin' It to the Streets—more than 100 never-before-seen photographs of 1980s New York by Alan "Battman" Batt, at the Prince George Ballroom, is on view from August 17–29, for free. It previews Batt's new book ahead of its October 12 national release, with limited pre-release copies signed on site.

Join Untapped New York Insiders for a special after-hours visit where you'll hear first-hand stories about the images from Alan himself!

Battman is one of those uncelebrated New Yorkers who give this city its edge. For four decades he was the photographer behind its public rituals—the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 23 years of New Year's Eve in Times Square, 25 years of the FDNY Calendar, 700 chefs, fourteen years on the 80th floor of the Empire State Building. But his first subject was the street.

And while he shot the city by day, he fronted Battman and the Banana Boys–– three albums, ten thousand records, all DIY. 

Battman did not just document a city in transition. He photographed the people who gave it pulse–– performers, friends, straphangers, street characters, downtown originals, and New Yorkers making their own kind of theater out of ordinary life. The work holds the grit, theatrics, camaraderie, and punk-rock energy. "While the other photographers were shooting the dark side of the city, I was taking the fun stuff."

The venue is part of the story: the Prince George is a Gilded Age ballroom that spent that same decade as one of the city's most notorious welfare hotels. 100% of ballroom proceeds now house homeless New Yorkers through Breaking Ground.

His stories are as vivid as the pictures. 

Takin' It to the Streets
Prince George Ballroom · 15 East 27th Street, between 5th and Madison, NYC
August 17–29 · 12–6pm daily · Thursdays 8/20 & 8/27 until 8pm · Closed Sunday 8/23